diff --git a/repoNew.go b/repoNew.go
index a152dc1..17adeb2 100644
--- a/repoNew.go
+++ b/repoNew.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package forgepb
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -48,12 +49,22 @@ func (f *Forge) ValidGoVersion(ver string) (bool, error) {
 func (f *Forge) findMasterBranch(repo *gitpb.Repo) {
 	// check the forge config first
 	if bname := f.Config.FindMasterBranch(repo.GetGoPath()); bname != "" {
-		log.Info("FOUND CONFIG NAME", bname)
-		log.Info("FOUND CONFIG NAME", bname)
-		log.Info("FOUND CONFIG NAME", bname)
+		log.Info("Using master branch name from forge config:", bname)
 		repo.SetMasterBranchName(bname)
 		return
 	}
+	// todo: fix this after .git parsing is better or libgit2 is being used
+	headfile := filepath.Join(repo.GetFullPath(), ".git/refs/remotes/origin/HEAD")
+	if data, err := os.ReadFile(headfile); err == nil {
+		s := string(data)
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "ref: ") {
+			fields := strings.Fields(s)
+			_, bname := filepath.Split(fields[1])
+			log.Info("Using master branch name from .git/ HEAD:", bname)
+			repo.SetMasterBranchName(bname)
+			return
+		}
+	}
 
 	// try to guess what the 'master' branch is
 	if repo.IsBranch("master") {